The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
Typically, navigation systems are available that provide users with various navigation-related functions. For example, some navigation systems are able to determine an optimum route to travel between locations in a geographic region. Using input from the end user, and optionally from equipment that can determine one's physical location, such as a GPS system, a navigation system can examine various routes between two locations to determine an optimum route to travel from a starting location to a destination location in a geographic region. The navigation system may then provide the end user with information about the optimum route in the form of guidance that identifies the driving maneuvers required to be taken by the end user to travel from the starting location to the destination location.
Often, navigation systems use geographic data. The geographic data may be in the form of one or more databases that include data that represent physical features in a geographic region. The geographic database may include data representing pathways in a geographic region and also may include information relating to the pathways in the geographic region, such as travel restrictions, speed limits, street or pathway names, address ranges, and so on.
It is recognized that many of the accidents that occur each year in paths of travel are directly caused by unexpected obstructions and hazards, such as fallen trees or branches, stones falling onto the pathway and cargo or debris, broken sidewalks, down power lines, car crashes, restricted areas, potholes, cracks, crevices, hazards, ice, snow, water, dirt, mud and many other hazardous conditions. At least some of these accidents could be avoided if the obstruction and hazards were reported and updated, and if the travelers were informed of the obstruction or hazard in real time.
In many instances, obstructions, such as potholes, slippery surfaces, and the like are encountered in surfaces, such as sidewalks, pathways, lots, trails, subways, grass, lands, property, roads, highways, driveways, parking lots and any surfaces which experience wear due to travel, temperature, weather, and the like. Currently, many devices provide route-planning guidance to route around traffic obstacles such as accidents, construction, and the like. However, a drawback of existing route planning systems is that hazards are not tracked and reported in real time so that a user may avoid such hazards. Also, the proprietor is never informed about the obstruction or road hazard.
Other proposals have involved road obstruction avoidance systems. The problem with these road safety systems is that they do not track and report the obstruction in real time so that a vehicle may avoid such road hazards. Also, the proprietor of the road is never informed about the obstruction or road hazard. Even though the above cited road safety systems meet some of the needs of the market, a system and method for sharing information about obstructions in a pathway that informs a user, website visitors and members of a network to an obstruction in a pathway in real time, and also notifies a proprietor about the obstruction is still desired.